Notes from Woodard’s Thursday press conference

Here’s a few quick notes from the first of what apparently will be Ray Woodard’s weekly press conferences:

— Wait until Saturday to learn the starting quarterback. That’s what Woodard said when asked if Andre Bevil will start against Incarnate Word. Bevil started the first two games.

— Wait until Saturday to find out the health of cornerback Branden Thomas, who missed the first two games because of a hamstring injury. “I’m not going to talk about anybody’s health ever again for as long as I’m here,” Woodard said. “I think other teams know way too much about us and we don’t know a damn thing about them.”

— Woodard closed practices to the public because “we had a lot more (information) going out than we had coming in.” He also said player performances in practices did not need public critiquing. “I think the players and coaches need to go out and coach and play and practice and work and not have to worry about being critiqued during the week,” Woodard said. “We’re going to get enough of that on Saturdays, and we should. But during the week we need to be focused on correcting mistakes and improving and focusing on the opponent we have, so that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

— When asked if he thought anything reported (injuries, etc…) about his team played a role in Lamar’s 30-8 loss at South Alabama, he said no.

— Players have been reminded about the close calls against lower-division schools Webber International and Langston last season while preparing for this week’s opponent, NCAA Division II member Incarnate Word.

This is the first week in which Woodard has closed practices to the public and limited media access to assistant coaches and players. Woodard made no coaches and players available to media Thursday. Woodard will hold a weekly 1 p.m. Thursday press conference.